I have finally gone through all my photos from our Romania & Spain vacation. Due to the large amount of photos I am going to break up the posts over the next week to cover the highlights of our trip. I will give a little info on life and sites in Romania along with the pics.
Ben and I had a fantastic time visiting there and highly recommend it if you are looking for a destination a little off the beaten path. I would recommend hiring a guide/driver or going on a tour – not many people speak English and the roads aren’t all that well marked. Plus like the rest of Europe they are crazy drivers! We hired a guide on our travel agent’s advise and had a wonderful time with Sorin – our guide. He was so knowledgeable all the site’s histories and even took us to a few places that weren’t on the agenda, they ended up being some of our favorite of our adventure!
If you are interested in visiting Romania and the Transylvania region give me a call or send an email and I would be happy to talk more about it with you. I have a couple of picture books and a large color pamphlet from the Romanian travel agent that has a lot of great information and additional sites to see. I can also recommend a travel agent that specializes in Eastern European travel.
Enjoy!
Peles Castle built by King Carol I between 1875-1914 and has modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, built in vacuum system and an elevator. It is located in Sinaia.
Bran Castle or otherwise known as Dracula’s Castle. Actually Vlad Tepes (Dracul) only stayed there a couple nights as he was passing through the area. Bram Stoker was inspired to write the book after staying in the town of Bran and getting inspiration while looking up at the castle one evening. Bran castle was built in 1382.
We ran into this shepherd on our way to the trailhead for a hike. Shepherds are still present throughout Romania and each has a unique way to make Shepherd’s cheese which is sheep cheese cured in the bark of a pine tree.
This is at the start of our hike in Piatra Craiului National Park. This area is know as the gorges.
Shepherd’s horses in the grassy meadows in Piatra Craiului National Park
This is the saddle between 2 mountains looking down on the valley below. We descended between these 2 mountains to the road far below. It was quite the trek with 2 full hours of steep downhill!
There are very few fenced pastures here. Horses are tied on a line and put in a grassy field to graze. Horses are used for transportation and work by peasants in Romania.
It is a common site to see horse and cart on the main roads in Romania. Many people are very poor is this is their form of transportation. A lot of horses were red on their bridles – the story goes that when a child is born and people say what a beautiful boy/girl they will give the child sickness or bad spirits. The parents place a something of red with them to the age of 3 to protect the child and keep the bad spirits/illness away. It is thought that the people put red on their “beautiful horse” to keep the evil spirits away and keep their horse healthy.
Rasnov Fortress dates to the 13th century and sits atop a hill above the town of Rasnov. It was built to defend off attacks from Tarter and Turkish attacks. It was abandoned in 1850.
Interior of Rasnov fortress
View from one holes in the fortress walls used for lookouts and defense.
This is a view of the “world’s narrowest street” in Brasov – only room for a person and a bicycle to pass through.
Brasov – This is a view of the square with the Black Church being the dominating structure. It is known as the Prague of Romania. Brasov is a Saxon city that is located in the heart of Transylvania. As in most large towns from this time there are medieval stone walls surrounding the historic centers. The Black Church is the main landmark in the city, it is a largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul, was built between 1383 and 1480. It got its name after a fire in 1689.
Look for more pics in the next couple of days!
WOW!! Tracey, those are some of the most outstanding pictures I have ever seen . . . GREAT work! The lighting, the colors and especially the eye that you have for construction/symetry of each piece. Love it!
Nancy